Hindon Airport

Last updated

Hindon Airport
Hindon Airport.jpg
Summary
Airport typePublic / Military
Owner Indian Air Force
Operator Airports Authority of India
Serves National Capital Region
Uttar Pradesh
Location Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Elevation  AMSL 700 ft / 213.4 m
Coordinates 28°42′21″N77°20′32″E / 28.7057898°N 77.3421373°E / 28.7057898; 77.3421373
Website www.aai.aero/en/airports/hindon
Map
India Uttar Pradesh location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
HDO/VIDX
Location of airport in Uttar Pradesh
India location map.svg
Airplane silhouette.svg
HDO/VIDX
HDO/VIDX (India)
Hindon Airport
Runways
Direction LengthSurface
ftm
09/279,0002,743 Asphalt
Statistics (April 2024 – March 2025)
Passengers83,964 (Increase2.svg 184.6%)
Aircraft movements3,080 (Increase2.svg 137.9%)
Cargo tonnage—
Source: AAI [1] [2] [3]

Hindon Airport( IATA : HDO, ICAO : VIDX), also spelled Hindan Airport, is a commercial domestic airport and an Indian Air Force base in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, operated by the Airports Authority of India at Hindan Air Force Station of the Indian Air Force. [4] [5] It is the second commercial airport serving the National Capital Region after Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi and 20 km from Connaught Place. [6]

Contents

The airport was primarily built to handle flights operating under the government's regional connectivity scheme, hence reducing the burden of regional flights from Delhi's main airport. In 2019, there were two airlines operating regional flights from the airport, but on 23 January 2023, both of them stopped services, resulting in the closure of the airport. [7] The low-cost regional carrier, FlyBig, restarted flight operations in the airport to Dehradun and Ludhiana from 6 September 2023. [8] [9]

History

Inauguration of the terminal on 8 March 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi inaugurating the Hindon Airport Civil Terminal.JPG
Inauguration of the terminal on 8 March 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Civil aviation enclave

In 2017, the Ministry of Civil Aviation pre-emptively took up the idea of a civil enclave at Hindon with the IAF [10] because slot constraints at the Indira Gandhi International Airport prevented the operation of flights under the government's Regional Connectivity Scheme called UDAN. [11] The Hindon civil enclave would then become the second airport in the National Capital Region for flights operating under UDAN. Commercial flight operations from an airport within 150 km of Delhi Airport were not allowed, according to an agreement signed between the government and Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL). Hence, the MoCA made a proposal, seeking clearance from DIAL for the temporary use of Hindon for flights awarded UDAN flights. DIAL approved the proposal in September 2017. When DIAL's on-going expansion of Delhi Airport is completed around September 2022, [12] all UDAN operations would revert to Delhi Airport. [11] The Indian Air Force permitted the Civil Aviation ministry to use the air base for civil operations in August 2017. [13] [14] AAI began construction of the terminal in August 2018. [15] Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the passenger terminal built at a cost of ₹ 40 crores on 8 March 2019 just before model code of conduct. [16]

The operations from Hindon were expected to begin from 15 March. However, discussions on slot timings with the Indian Air Force regarding slots took longer than expected and the date for commencement of flight operations was pushed back to the first half of October 2019. [17] The first commercial flight from the Hindon took off on 11 October 2019. A Beechcraft King Air, operated by Heritage Aviation under the UDAN scheme, took off for Pithoragarh Airport with nine passengers on board. [18] In May 2019, it was reported that the state government and AAI were considering making the airport permanent. [19]

Statistics on civilian flights

Annual passenger traffic at QAH airport. See Wikidata query.

Civil aviation services

Passenger facilities

Civil enclave within military airbase

The Hindon civil enclave was built on 7.5 acres at Sikandarpur village in Sahibabad, adjacent to the existing Indian Airforce airbase. [20] The terminal was developed by AAI while the Uttar Pradesh government built the connecting roads and provides electricity for the project. [15] Air traffic control is provided by the Indian Air Force. [21] [12]

Civilian air terminal

The terminal building is a pre-engineered, air-conditioned structure with eight check-in counters. The passenger terminal covers an area of 5,425 square metres and has a capacity of serving 300 passengers an hour. The car park can accommodate 90 cars. [22]

Airlines and destinations

AirlinesDestinations
Air India Express Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, [23] Chennai, Goa–Dabolim, Jaipur, [24] Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, [24] Varanasi [24]
FlyBig Bathinda, [25] Ludhiana [8]
IndiGo Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Indore, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna, Varanasi [26]
Star Air Bengaluru, [27] Jalandhar, Kishangarh, Nanded

Transport connectivity

Last-mile connectivity

Following are available to the ISBT, metro stations, railway stations, RRTS stations, and elsewhere.

Bus for long distances from ISBTs

Following major Inter-State Bus Terminals (ISBT)s have the long-distance bus services to several states:

Metro Rail for suburban distances

Following metro trains serve the Core NCR (Delhi and other adjacent cities within Delhi Urban agglomeration.

RRTS Rapid Rail for regional NCR distances

While metro trains serve the Core NCR, the RRTS connect the Delhi with the following other cities within the Wider NCR region:

Railways for long distances

Railways connect Delhi with the whole India and to the neighbouring countries such as Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Nepal.

Roads and highways

Airports

Nearest major civilian airports within the same NCR catchment area are as follows:

Issues

Poor connectivity

Hindon Airport's growth is significantly limited by poor last-mile as well as long-distance connectivity. The lack of a co-located centralised multimodal transport hub with the integrated long distance bus terminal (ISBT), direct suburban metro and long-distance rail, etc hinders passengers. They struggle to find direct transport to places like Ghaziabad railway station, face unreliable and expensive cabs, and often rely on inconvenient e-rickshaws and auto rickshaws. Despite the nearby presence of Delhi Metro and Namo Bharat stations, the absence of direct extensions of these rail lines to Hindon Airport continues to be a problem, a situation worsened by the heavy traffic congestion on Wazirabad road. Moreover, the lack of essential direct bus and rail connections to IGI Delhi Airport, as well as the alternative airports in the NCR Plan, namely Noida and Hisar airports, further compounds the connectivity problems. [29]

Capacity constraints

Hindon civil terminal is facing severe infrastructural limitations with growing passenger traffic due to the lack of aircraft parking bays (currently only two, which has led to flight diversions and cancellations during technical issues or inclement weather), the terminal building constraints (designed for 300 passengers per hour is now handling around 430), night landing is disallowed by IAF due to the security issues. [30]

Present status

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Annexure III – Passenger Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  2. ↑ "Annexure II – Aircraft Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  3. ↑ "Annexure IV – Freight Movement Data" (PDF). aai.aero. Retrieved 29 April 2025.
  4. ↑ "Hindon airport in Ghaziabad to be operational for UDAN flights by March - Times of India". M.timesofindia.com. 30 January 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Regional flights to 4 cities including Kannur and Hubli from Hindan airbase expected by October end". Hindustan Times . 5 July 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "Delhi's second airport to operate first flight from tomorrow". livemint . 10 October 2019. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  7. ↑ "Airline suspends services to Karnataka, Hindon terminal has no flights now". The Times of India. 18 March 2023.
  8. 1 2 Jain, Nitin (4 September 2023). "Ludhiana gets Dehradun, Delhi air link from this week". The Tribune . Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  9. ↑ Jha, Abhijay (6 September 2023). "Commercial flight ops to resume from Hindon civil terminal today". The Times of India . Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  10. ↑ "'Hindon airbase to be used as second airport for RCS in Delhi'". Business Standard . 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  11. 1 2 "DIAL gives nod to use of Hindon airbase for RCS flights". The Times of India . 22 September 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  12. 1 2 "You could board a flight from Gzb in Jan '19 - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 October 2018.
  13. ↑ "Air Force: Can open up Hindan for flights under regional scheme". The Hindu Business Line . 30 August 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  14. ↑ "Ghaziabad: Govt approves plan to operate regional flights from Hindan airbase". Hindustan Times . 7 March 2018. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  15. 1 2 "Airport authority starts work on terminal facilities at Hindon airbase". Hindustan Times . 21 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  16. ↑ "PM Narendra Modi inaugurates civil enclave at Hindon airport - The Economic Times". Economictimes.indiatimes.com. 8 March 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  17. ↑ "Commercial Flights From Hindon Base Likely From Early October: Officials". NDTV . 30 August 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
  18. ↑ "Delhi's second airport begins operations". The Times of India . 11 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  19. ↑ "'Temporary' Hindon civilian airport to turn permanent? | Ghaziabad News - Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 8 May 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  20. ↑ "Land identified for civilian flights from Hindan IAF base in Ghaziabad". The Times of India . 29 November 2017. Retrieved 9 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "Delhi to get second airport at Hindon by February next year". Livemint.com. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  22. ↑ "Hindon Airport begins operation". Financial Express . 11 October 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  23. ↑ Tripathi LM, Neha (23 January 2025). "Air India Express to begin operations from Hindon Airport". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  24. 1 2 3 "एक मई से पटना के लिए हिंडन एयरपोर्ट से उड़ान, बनारस और लखनऊ के लिए भी फ्लाइट की तैयारी". Navbharat Times (in Hindi). Retrieved 14 April 2025.
  25. ↑ Jha, Abhijay (14 September 2023). "Two routes to Punjab from Hindon terminal now, but services to Dehradun suspended". The Times of India . Retrieved 14 September 2023. Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann will formally inaugurate the route on September 18, Ratan Laxmanro Ambhore, the head of ground operations at Flybig, told TOI.
  26. ↑ "IndiGo to launch operations from Hindon in July 2025". Live from a Lounge. 20 June 2025. Retrieved 20 June 2025.
  27. ↑ "Forget Delhi IGI Airport. Cheap Flights From NCR Hindon Airport Started For 6 Cities. Fare Only 1500 Rs". Delhi Breakings. 20 March 2024. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  28. ↑ New Metro Line To Connect North-East Delhi With Trans Hindon Area In Ghaziabad, timesnownews.com, 11 Sept 2024.
  29. ↑ Last-mile connectivity issues surface as Hindon airport expands operations, Hindustan Times, 12 Mar 2025.
  30. 1 2 Jha, A. (2025, July 21). 'Railway station feel': Must expand Hindon terminal, says Union minister, The Times of India.
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